Cruise Report: 2022-06-07

Recreational angling survey

Author

Mike O’Brien (UMCES)

Participants

Dave Secor (UMCES)
Mike O’Brien (UMCES)
Kohma Arai (UMCES)
Roman Jesien (MD Coastal Bays Program)
Capt. Dan Stauffer (F/V Fin Chaser, captain)
Joey M. (F/V Fin Chaser, mate)

Overall

06:00 Meet at Talbot St. Pier, load gear onto Fin Chaser
06:10 Depart dock, transit to Twin Wrecks
07:36 Arrive at Twin Wrecks
- 07:47 Begin jig fishing
- 08:04 - 09:20 Drop fishing
- 09:20 Transit to A5-3
09:45 Arrive at A5-3
- 09:51 Begin jig fishing
- 10:10 - 11:29 Drop fishing
- 11:30 Transit to RTWB
11:39 Arrive at RTWB
11:42 Return to Talbot St Pier, Ocean City, MD
13:15 Arrive Ocean City, MD (time approximate)

Description

Wind speed was 13-15 knots at the control site and 13-15 knots at the experimental site, coming from 140 degrees. Waves were 1 m with a swell of 2 m. Cloud cover was 3 to 7 tenths of the sky.

Cruise map

The individual tracks can be seen by zooming in. The general sites that were targeted in the cruise are shown in large blue circles, with beginning points for sample drifts represented by small blue circles and end points represented by small red circles. Straight lines link individual sampling events. Actual tracks were recorded at the experimental site at a resolution of 1 sample per 4-10 seconds using a mobile phone app; a new handheld GPS has been purchased to allow this capability for all cruises going forward.

Note the variability in the real track (see experimental drops) versus point-to-point tracks (see the control sites, where real tracks weren’t recorded. Additionally, we can see that we went straight over the control reef, but drifted around a bit at the experimental site.

Fish summary

Fish showed no outward signs of barotrauma beyond (extended stomach, bulging eyes, etc.), though were unable to maintain an upright orientation. All but one black sea bass was jaw-hooked (the least-damaging hook position).

Most fish caught were under-sized; the red line shows fish of legal length (>320 mm).

There were two modes of weights (250 and 500g), but this may be due to the 50g-sensitivity of our spring scale.

Lastly, the most experienced fisher (JM, mate of the F/V Fin Chaser) caught the most fish. This suggests that angler experience has a notable influence on the number of fish caught.

Miscellany

Crew of the Fin Chaser uses the FISHWEATHER website to follow fishing conditions
Average transit speed was 9-15 kts
Weight of weighing bucket is 250 g
Spring scale lines are in 50 g increments
Time drops using a stop watch and record running time when fish is hooked/pulled to surface
Use GPS time to mark start of drop
Newer GPS can export tracks in GPX format – starting and ending a track might be the best way forward
Used Gaia GPS mobile app to record tracks at A5-3 (experimental station). Tracks were unable to be exported from handheld GPS at control station.

Photographs

F/V Fin Chaser

Three fishers, conducting repeated drops from the starboard, aft, and port side of the vessel. Rigs consisted of two offset J-hooks, baited with clam. Each drop lasted three minutes and ended for each fisher upon catching a fish.